Man pleads guilty to rape, indecent treatment charges

A teenage girl was left “scared and shaking” when a man she trusted raped her next to her friend during a sleepover.

The man, who cannot be named for legal reasons, pleaded guilty to three counts of rape and two counts of indecent treatment of a child when he faced Maryborough District Court on Tuesday.

A man who raped a teenager while she slept next to her friend at a sleepover has learnt his fate in court.

The man, who cannot be named for legal reasons, pleaded guilty to three counts of rape and two counts of indecent treatment of a child when he faced Maryborough District Court on Tuesday.

The court heard the man was trusted by the 13-year-old girl’s family and she had been having a sleepover at his house with a friend when the offending happened.

He had used that position of trust in an “egregious manner”, with two acts of penile penetration and one act of digital penetration, the court was told.

The girl had said she was “scared and shaking” during the rapes, the court heard.

The man had also touched the child’s breast and her vagina over her clothes in a separate incident.

The court heard the man had been on remand for 203 days.

The man had lived a “largely unremarkable life” having grown up on a farm and spent much of his life working.

He had also aspired to join the army, but that didn’t eventuate.

When his father died, the man took that very hard and started drinking heavily.

The man, who cannot be named for legal reasons, pleaded guilty to three counts of rape and two counts of indecent treatment of a child when he faced Maryborough District Court on Tuesday.

At the time of the offending he accepted he had a real problem with alcohol, the court was told, and he was quite intoxicated when he raped and molested the young victim.

The court heard he was appalled at what he had done and had reflected on “good memories” of when he was a supportive and trusted adult for the girl who would make sure she had food and picked her up and dropped her off at school.

He had not been a father figure, but very much a trusted adult, the court heard.

The man was hoping to live with his mother, who was in her 80s, when he was released.

He had worked in the metal shop while in prison, the court heard, and he had completed a reintegration course while behind bars.

The man was well aware of the need to complete the sex offenders’ program while he was in prison, the court heard.

Judge Terry Gardiner said the man had been 62 at the time of the offending.

He said the man had been a trusted adult figure in her life until the offending occurred in September, 2022.

The girl and her friend had arranged to go to the man’s home for a sleepover, Mr Gardiner said.

The children went to sleep on a fold-out couch, but at 2.30am the man climbed into the bed and raped her, causing the girl to feel “pain and fear”.

The following day, the man committed two more acts of rape against the girl, Judge Gardiner said.

In a separate incident the man had later touched the girl’s breast and vagina on the outside of her clothing, he said.

When he was arrested by police, he participated in a police interview but denied the offending, Judge Gardiner said.

He said while he didn’t have a victim impact statement, he inferred there was considerable trauma to the victim, describing the man’s actions as “predatory”.

“It’s clear that your motivation was to satisfy your own sexual gratification,” he said.

“Your offending demonstrated the betrayal of the responsibility of a trusted adult.”

The man was given a head sentence of seven years in prison.

A parole eligibility date was set for December 24, 2026.

The time he had spent in presentence custody was declared as time served.

Originally published as Man pleads guilty to rape, indecent treatment charges